Secondary school places

1 Overview

This information only applies if you want to apply for your child to start Year 7 at secondary school in September 2026 as they are in Year 6 at a primary or junior school.

If your child has an EHCP, you cannot apply using this form. You should already have received information from the Special Educational Needs Assessment Team (SENAT) in Chichester. Contact them if you have any questions.

If you live outside West Sussex, you cannot use this site to apply. You must apply via your own council. This will be shown on your Council Tax documents. Contact them for further advice. Any applications from outside West Sussex will not be processed.

If your child needs a school place in a different year group or at another point in the year, you need to apply to move schools.

2 Find your catchment area school and other local schools

Before applying for your child's secondary school place:

3 Before you apply

You must read the Information for parents booklet, the relevant appendix and additional guidance pages before applying.

It is the responsibility of parents or carers to apply for a school place. You do not need to have a letter from the county council.

Follow our checklist to ensure you have completed all the necessary steps before applying.

Application for a school place checklist (PDF, 90KB)

4 Preferences

You can apply for up to 3 different schools. Rank the schools in order of preference - the first school listed should be the one you would most like your child to go to.
We advise that you use all 3 preferences and enter your catchment school as one of your preferences.
Be realistic with your preferences. If you choose an oversubscribed school, the further away you live the less likely you are to be offered a place.
If you select a school as a preference that is not your nearest/catchment school, this may impact on your eligibility for transport. See the school transport pages for further information.
Do not include a school that you do not want as a preference as you may be offered this school.
If you apply after the closing date you are far less likely to get a place at one of your preferred schools.
After the application deadline you cannot change your preferences unless there is a genuine unforeseeable reason for doing so, for example, if a sibling changes school.

5 Apply for a place

Applications closed at 11.59pm on Friday 31 October 2025. To apply after this date you will need to complete a late application form, which is available on the ‘Applying after the closing date’ tab.

If you have already applied and wish to amend your preferences, your address, or other details, a ‘Change of application details form’ is available on the ‘Applying after the closing date’ tab.

6 Offer dates

You will be notified of the outcome of your application by email or letter, depending on how you applied. No information will be provided over the phone.

Applications received before 11.59pm on 31 October 2025

If you applied online we will email you the outcome of your application on Monday 2 March 2026. Emails will be sent throughout the day so we can't give you an exact time.
If you applied by paper form you will be emailed the result later this day if an email address was provided with the application. The admissions office will contact you to request an email address if one is not specified on the form.
If you do not have an email address you will receive a letter by second class post.

Applications received after 11.59pm on 31 October 2025

If we received your application out of time (between 1 November 2025 and 28 November 2025) we will consider your preferences after reviewing all the applications we received on time.
If you applied online we will email you the outcome of your application on Monday 2 March 2026. Emails will be sent throughout the day so we can't give you an exact time.
If you applied by paper form you will be emailed the result later this day if an email address was provided with the application. The admissions office will contact you to request an email address if one is not specified on the form.
If you do not have an email address, you will receive a letter by second class post.
Applications received on or after Friday 28 November 2025 are late and outside the normal admissions round. They will not be processed until after 30 March 2026. You will be contacted after this date.

7 Applying after the closing date

On-time applications closed at 11.59pm on Friday 31 October 2025.

If you have not made an application, to apply now you will need to complete the late application form below. You will need an email address.

All applications require a new account to be set up on the Parent Portal unless you have already set up an account, in which case you will need to log in.

Late application for secondary school (external link)

You can save your application and return to it to make amendments before submitting it.

If you have already applied and wish to amend your preferences or your address, or other details, contact the Pupil Admissions Team.

Parents should note that in accordance with the School Admissions Code, after the closing date preferences cannot be changed unless there is a genuine reason for doing so, for example, if the family have recently moved address.

Do not use these forms if you want to move your child in a different year group or at another point in the year. In these instances, you need to apply to move schools.

Applying using a paper form

If you are unable to use the online late application form contact the Pupil Admissions Team to request a paper application form. A form will be emailed to you, which should be returned by email.

You can request that a printed paper form is sent to you by post. If you return it to the Pupil Admissions Team by post, you should send it by recorded delivery. It is your responsibility to ensure the form is received by the deadline.

Claims regarding missing forms will not be investigated unless you can provide evidence that it was received by the Pupil Admissions Team.

If the form is received after the deadline your preferences will be considered after all the preferences received on time have been allocated.

We are not responsible for forms lost or delayed in the post and recommend that you keep a copy of the form and evidence of posting.

8 After you get your school offer

To help you understand the 2026 intake, after the relevant offer day you'll find details below about the total number of places offered, the last criteria/category and furthest distance offered within that criteria/category for each school in West Sussex.

You will need to cross-reference it to the school’s policy available in the information for parents booklet and appendix.

If you did not get the school place you wanted, your child will be placed on a waiting list and you may want to appeal.

Find further information about waiting lists and appeals.